Golf tee



May 28, 1940. A. D, JOFIQDAN GOLF TEE Filed June 2, 1939 Patented May 28, 1940 UNITED, STAT -s PATENT OFFlCE GOLF TEE I Arthur DrJordan, Franklin, Mass. Application June'2, 1939, Serial No. 217,003 *7 Claims. (01. 273-43) Thisinvention relates to golf tees, whichare employed to support a'golf ball in making the initial stroke from the tee of a golf course, in playing the game of golf,-

Prior to my invention various devices called tees, have been employed to support the golf ball at a short distanceabove thesurface of-the ground and in position to be struck advantageously with' the driver, such devicesincluding a wooden pin, which is forced. into the ground, and a small. support which rests .on .the ground. The chief objections to tees of .this. type are that they have to be carried about by the player, are liable to be'lost, or struck with the club so that they cannot easily be found, and. the pin, which is forced into the ground,,is liable to 'be struck with the club, so that theturf is more or less torn The object of my invention is to provide a formof golf tee which is adapted to be set into the ground on the tee of the golf course, so as to form a permanent fixture whichis always ready for use, and which is adapted to supportthe'ball in a positionin which it maybe struck .with'the club to good advantage, and will support the ball at a-uniform elevation from the-ground, which may be somewhat varied to suit the wishes of the player and will not interfere with'the player-in making a successful drive. I accomplish these objects by providing a support which is adapted'to-be set into the ground flush with its surface andin whicha rotatable golf tee is mounted, which is adapted tosupport therball at several'difierent elevations, preferably three, so that the individual wishes of the player may be satisfied, and the same conditions may be provided at each tee on the golf course. 1

For a more complete disclosure of my invention reference is now made to the following specification in connection with the accompanying drawing in which:

Fig. 1 is a plan view illustrating the complete tee, as it is to be installed, in a preferred embodiment of my invention. I

Fig. 2 is a sectional view on an enlarged scale at line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a sectional View at line 33 of Fig. 2.

Figs. 4 and 5 are detail views illustrating the manner of assembling the parts.

According to my invention, I provide a main support [0 which preferably consists of a fiat slab of hard rubber which is adapted to be set into the ground of the golf tee, so that its top surface is flush with the surface of the ground. Said support is preferably made in elongated form, and

' of the support rent c lor om e her.

has a pointed end ll, so that it may be set in a position to .point to thehole in the putting green which is the objective towards which;the ball is to be driven. I further provide a rectangular shaped opening therethru in the middle portion I B. in which a correspondingly shaped frame I2 is fitted, said frame also being preferably made of hard rubber and open at top and bottom so that water will not collect therein. A vertical slot 13 is'formed in each side oftheif-rame I2 at the middle thereof and ashelf I ll, having a'horizontal top surface, is provided ontheinner'side of the frame at the .lower end I6, preferably threein number, project in radial relation, said fingers being spaced 120 apart and having a cup shaped recess I! in the ends thereof into which a golf ball may be set. Said fingers are of different lengths and each is painteda A shaft projects from each end of the cylindrical-portion 15, which comprises a portion l8 which is, triangular in cross section and provides three faces, each of which isdisposed in a plane perpendicular to one of the fingers It, so that, when any one .of the faces .of the bearing portion 18 rests on the horizontal shelf l4, one of the fingers will extend vertically above the surface' of the support. Said shaftalso has cylindrical end portions zflwhich are adapted .to extend into and loosely engage the fr me in the ning 1 o. P m t said end portions '20 to be readily placed in the openings I3, one side of the frame is provided with a removable section 2| having fianges 22, said section being fitted into a correspondingly shaped recess formed in one side of the frame and open ing to the upper end of one of the slots i3.

In assembling the parts, the section 2! is first removed, so that one end of bearing 20 may be inserted in the opposite opening 13 and the shaft may be placed in position, then after section 2! has been replaced the frame I2 is placed in the opening of support II], which will have been set into the ground flush with its surface and with the pointed end pointing to the hole towards which the ball is to be driven from the tee.

In use the golfer rotates the shaft so that the finger on Which'he wishes. to place the ball extends vertically.

As the player will usually wish to have the ball supported at the same level on all the tees, he will place the same colored finger in upright position on each tee, as each finger of a certain length will be painted the same color. He will therefore always have the ball supported at the same elevation on each tee by using the same colored finger. The ball will be placed in the cup formed in the end of the finger which he selects, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, and will be held in this position by the flat surface IB bearing on the shelf M, with sufiicient security. This will however offer no appreciable resistance when the ball is struck with the club, as the fingers will be free to rotate in the direction of the stroke,

the slots l3 permitting the shaft end portions 20 a to move upward to the slight extent necessary to permit free rotation.

All the parts above described are preferably made of hard rubber, or other non-corrodible material, so that it will be impervious to the weather.

I claim:

1. A golf tee comprising a support having an opening therethru, a shaft having its end portions freely rotatable in opposite sides of said opening, a finger fixed on and projecting radially from said shaft and having a ball-supporting face'on its end, said shaft having a fiat face at the opposite side thereof from said finger, and said support having a horizontal face arranged to engage the face on said shaft and support said finger in upright position.

2. A golf tee comprising a support having an opening therethru, a shaft having its end portions freely rotatable in opposite sides of said opening, a finger fixed on and projecting radially from said shaft and having a ball-supporting face on its end, said shaft having a flat face at each side of said finger and at the opposite side of said shaft from said finger, and said support having a horizontal face at each side of said opening arranged to be engaged by the faces of said shaft and to support said finger in upright position.

3. A golf tee comprising a support having an opening therethru, a shaft freely rotatable in opposite sides of said opening and having a plurality of ball-supporting fingers of different lengths fixed on and projecting radially therefrom, said shaft having a plurality of flat faces thereon in perpendicular relation to each finger and at opposite sides thereof from the finger, and said support having a horizontal face on which said faces are adapted to rest to hold said fingers in upright position and in position to project above the top surface of the support.

4. A golf tee comprising a support having an opening therethru, an open frame fitted to said opening, said frame having oppositely disposed slots therein, and a horizontal face at the lower end of said slots, a shaft freely rotatable in said slots, and having a face thereon arranged to rest on .the face of said frame, and a ball-supporting finger extending radially from said shaft inperpendicular and opposite relation to the face on said shaft.

' 5. A golf tee comprising a fiat plate adapted to be set into the ground flush with the surface thereof, said plate having an opening therethru, an open frame fitted into said opening, a shaft having its ends freely rotatable in opposite sides of said frame, a finger projecting radially from said shaft having a ball-supporting face on the end thereof, said shaft having a fiat face disposed in opposite and perpendicular relation to said finger, and said frame having a horizontal face arranged to engage the face of said shaft and support said finger in perpendicular relation to said plate.

6. A golf tee comprising an open frame adapted to be set into the ground flush with the surface thereof, a shaft freely rotatable in-opposite sides of said frame, a plurality of fingers projecting radially from said shaft beyond the top side of the frame, said fingers being of different lengths and having ball-supporting faces at their ends,

whereby a ball may be supported at different elevations above the surface of the ground, said shaft having faces disposed in perpendicular and opposite relation to said fingers respectively, and said frame having a horizontal face arranged to be engaged by the faces on said shaft thereby to hold said fingers in perpendicular relation to the surface of the ground.

'7."A golf tee comprising an elongated support adapted to be set into the ground flush with the surface thereof and to be pointed in the direction in which the ball is to be struck, said support having an opening at an intermediate portion thereof, a shaft mounted in said opening in transverse relation to said support'and freely rotatable therein, a finger fixed on said shaft and having a ball-supporting face on its, end, said shaft having a fiat face disposed inopposite and perpendicular relation to said finger and said support having a flat face on which the face of said shaft is adapted to rest, to support said finger in upright position and in position to project through said opening.

ARTHUR D. JORDAN. 

